I don't have medical insurance - felt awful - was diagnosed with heart disease - found Linus Pauling theory online, read your excellent book and Dr. Levy's - took 6000mg Vit C & 6000mg L-Lysine daily and felt so much better within a week. Felt much better for months.

Now I have dysphasia (self diagnosed with help of the internet) It hurts to swallow and feels like food is stuck in my throat and esophagus - sometimes I regurgitate it. I have had no reflux or heart burn symptoms. Do you think that the acidity of the high dose vitamin C could have damaged my esophagus? I have stopped taking the vit C for about 2 weeks and my heart problems and terrible - weak feeling, fatigue liquid on lungs,coughing, heart beat irregularities and bad nights are back. Thanks for your time. Brian

This is the first report of this kind. Perhaps the medical doctors who contribute here may have ideas. As a first report, it may be a coincidence.

If acid is causing problem - several alternatives - add some baking soda to the vitamin C (creating some sodium ascorbate) as Pauling himself did this - described in his book HOW TO LIVE LONGER AND FEEL BETTER

Or replace ordinary vitamin C with livonlabs.com Lypo-C for a while, and see if this problem clears. 1 packet of lypo-C is conservatively worth 4 grams of ordinary C (may be more but won't hurt to under estimate.)

Dear OwenI have registered to be able to access the forum, but as yet have not received a confirmation I am curious to know why you say that I spelt "dysphagia" incorrectly. I researched so many different internet sites that spelt it that way. My dictionary and medical encyclopaedia give the meaning of the word as "Difficulty swallowing." I only learned the word by Googling "Difficulty swallowing." From my extensive reading on the subject, I gathered that there are a number of different sorts and causes of the conditon neurological causes and GERD seemed to be the most common. I did read about brain damage causing swallowing and speech difficulties. However, amongst a number of other things, medication such as BP meds and Potassium were also given as possible causes for esophagus damage and "difficulty swallowing" (which they called esophageal dysphagia) When I read that, I wondered if the Vitamin C might possibly be causing damage to my esophagus due to the acidity. I had been feeling some discomfort in my chest (esophagus possibly) immediately after swallowing the vitamin C - that is why I stopped it. I still have the problem and the feeling of my food not going down properly, so it would appear (as I suspected) that it has nothing to do with the vitamin C and is, as you say, probably a coincidence. I know there is good and bad advice on the internet, so I read a lot of different sites and try to gather the good knowledge from it all, as I cannot afford medical costs and it is the best option I have. I couldn't afford the angioplasty and stents advised by the doctor who diagnosed my heart disease and I didn't like the "band aid" treatment -I wanted healing, so I searched the internet and found the Linus Pauling Vitamin C theory, which did wonders for me. I intend getting back on to it. Sincerely

Suspect you didn't submit the forum request if you didn't receive email - or mistyped your email. Why not try again, then email me the automated email with y our login info and I will actrivate you.

He is having problems with his food because he needs to start taking a digestive enzyme anytime he eats in order to assist the stomach in digesting his food AND he needs to take BETAINE HCL before meals to increase his stomach acid. As we age the stomach doesn't make as much stomach acid as it used to so the BETAINE HCL helps increase the acid. We have to remember that our diets are mostly DEAD food that is lacking in ENZYMES that the body must have. People always feel that whenever we have discomfort down there in the esophagus area that it must be because of TOO much acid. NO !!! Its because of TOO LITTLE ACID. Even a tsp of apple cider vinegar before each meal will help. I had problems like that myself until the compounding pharmacist in our town told me that I needed enzymes and Betaine HCL. I took them and the problem stopped.

Well, it WAS dysphagia - this time diagnosed by a gastro-enterologist after doing an endoscopy. The diagnosis was, dysphagia due to an esophageal tumor. Pathology revealed that it was malignant and the cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes and the liver. I am currently being fed through a tube in my stomach and receiving radiation therapy to shrink the tumor so that I can eat real food again. The liver malignancy is too far gone for treatment. This was definitely NOT due to the Vitamin C it must have started long before I took that . It was according to the doctor, most likely due to on going acid reflux over the years causing Barretts esophagus and eventually developing the malignant tumor. I hadn't felt the acid reflux for a long time and the doctor felt that damaged nerve cells possibly caused that lack of recognition.Life gets tough sometimes!

Not sure exactly what you mean but due to the malignancy being in the esophagus, the lymph nodes and the liver - a stage 4 cancer, the oncologist has recommended radiation to shrink the tumor so that I can get some enjoyment from eating until the cancer gets me. He gave me anything from 4 months (starting in December 2010) to 2 years, but he said considering my age of 79 it would more likely be within 4-8 months.

Oh no. So sorry for tour loss Tritons wife. I came on here looking for info on dysphagia because my little brother suffers from it. He had a balloon procedure to stretch his esophagus done when he was in high school. Now he gets random nut allergies and food stuck in his throat all the time. Very scary. He is a vitamin c skeptic and claims he takes 200% daily intake of vitamin c. So he asked me to find some references that it can help.

FishermansWife wrote:He is a vitamin c skeptic and claims he takes 200% daily intake of vitamin c. So he asked me to find some references that it can help.

Hi Katie,

While I am unaware of any specific studies done using vitamin C to treat dysphagia, from my view, it's the improvement in his overall bodily health that will have the best chance of solving his problem. To that end, I think the following three quotes might be of interest to him:

"There are more than ten thousand scientific papers that make it quite clear that there is not one body process (such as what goes on inside cells or tissues) and not one disease or syndrome (from the common cold to leprosy) that is not influenced - directly or indirectly - by vitamin C." -- Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., Dr. Marshall Ringsdorf, D.M.D., and Dr. Emily Sisley, THE VITAMIN C CONNECTION.

"The evidence unequivocally shows that mega-gram doses of vitamin C can prevent and cure a vast list of conditions that plague mankind. It is both inexpensive and completely safe. My conclusion: vitamin C is the 'Primal Panacea.'" -- Dr. Thomas E. Levy, M.D. (You may care to look up the definitions of “primal” and [particularly] “panacea”).

“I have never seen a patient that Vitamin C would not benefit.” -- Dr. Frederick Klenner, M.D.

I hope that helps, Katie.

Good luck,

David

P.S. These two quotes may also be of interest:

"The clinical symptoms of...diseases and other conditions...are markedly ameliorated only as bowel tolerance dose levels (the amount that almost, but not quite, causes diarrhea) are approached." -- Dr. Robert Cathcart, M.D.

"The three most important considerations in effective vitamin C therapy are 'Dose, Dose, and Dose.' If you don't take enough, you won't get the desired effects. Period!...you will rarely ever fail to observe a dramatic response...IF you take a large enough dose for a long enough time." -- Dr. Thomas E. Levy, M.D.

JFYI, I have ingested a Bowel Tolerance dose of ascorbic acid [via one gram tablets], in HEALTH, not illness [of which I have had virtually none], basically every day since 1994, amounting to [currently], on average, 75+ grams [daily], in 10 to 15 divided doses.